A Conversation with Gary Becker
10 Apr 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, behavioural economics, comparative institutional analysis, discrimination, economic history, economics of education, economics of information, Gary Becker, gender, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, occupational choice, poverty and inequality
The Rise of Human Capital
28 Jan 2024 Leave a comment
in Gary Becker, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply
No economist was more responsible for the appreciation, understanding and analysis of the fact that people invest in improving their productivity than was Gary Becker.
The Rise of Human Capital
What Was Gary Becker’s Biggest Mistake?
15 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in behavioural economics, economics of crime, Gary Becker, history of economic thought, law and economics
The econometrician Henri Theil once said “models are to be used but not to be believed.” I use the rational actor model for thinking about marginal changes but Gary Becker really believed the model. Once, at a dinner with Becker, I remarked that extreme punishment could lead to so much poverty and hatred that it could create blowback. Becker […]
What Was Gary Becker’s Biggest Mistake?
Police versus Prisons
13 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, economics of crime, Gary Becker, history of economic thought, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, occupational choice
Here’s a remarkable graph from the Council of Economic Advisers report on incarceration and the criminal justice system. The graph shows that the United States employs many more prison guards per-capita than does the rest of the world. Given our prison population that isn’t surprising. What is surprising is that on a per-capita basis we employ 35% […]
Police versus Prisons
Still under-policed and over-imprisoned
07 Nov 2023 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of bureaucracy, economics of crime, Gary Becker, labour economics, law and economics, occupational choice, Public Choice Tags: crime and punishment, criminal deterrence, law and order
A new paper, The Injustice of Under-Policing, makes a point that I have been emphasizing for many years, namely, relative to other developed countries the United States is under-policed and over-imprisoned. …the American criminal legal system is characterized by an exceptional kind of under-policing, and a heavy reliance on long prison sentences, compared to other […]
Still under-policed and over-imprisoned
Gary Becker, August 5, 2003
27 Oct 2021 Leave a comment
in economics of education, Gary Becker, human capital, labour economics, labour supply
Essential UCLA School of Economics: The Economics of Unintended Consequences
06 Oct 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, Armen Alchian, comparative institutional analysis, economics of information, economics of regulation, Gary Becker, George Stigler, industrial organisation, law and economics, Ronald Coase, Sam Peltzman, survivor principle
Entrevista Gary Becker, Nobel Economía 1992 – ICEX
22 Sep 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, budget deficits, business cycles, comparative institutional analysis, economic growth, economics of education, fiscal policy, Gary Becker, history of economic thought, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, macroeconomics
Essential UCLA School of Economics: How Property Rights & Profits Reduce Discrimination
18 Sep 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, Armen Alchian, comparative institutional analysis, discrimination, economic history, economics of education, Gary Becker, gender, human capital, industrial organisation, labour economics, labour supply, law and economics, property rights, Public Choice, survivor principle, theory of the firm Tags: racial discrimination, sex discrimination
How much can discrimination explain? Walter Williams
26 Aug 2021 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, applied welfare economics, comparative institutional analysis, discrimination, economic history, economics of information, Gary Becker, gender, health and safety, human capital, labour economics, labour supply, minimum wage, occupational choice, poverty and inequality, unemployment
Utopia, you are standing in it! 
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